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Tejinder Pal Singh helps Lions dwarf Giants

Special Correspondent

First win for the Chandigarh team

CHANDIGARH: This was just the kind of performance Chandigarh Lions needed to serve a warning to all other contenders.

Having started its campaign with a defeat, last edition’s runner-up Lions came up with a dominating performance that dwarfed Delhi Giants in the Indian Cricket League’s Edelweiss 20s Challenge at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium at Panchkula, here on Saturday.

The first day-game of the competition saw Lions doing everything right for a 34-run victory.

Creditably, Lions made it without its skipper Chris Cairns, who handed over the charge to Andrew Hall until Wednesday to return home to attend to some urgent family matter.

Electing to bat, Lions reached 153 for six after looking good for more.

But the runs proved enough once Giants lost its way early in its chase. Lions stopped Giants at 119 in 18.1 overs for its first win in the league.

Tuffey strikes

Daryl Tuffey sent back Giants’s openers Avishka Gunawardene (five) and Mohnish Mishra (six) before the in-form Abbas Ali (four) was run out with just 29 on the board. Skipper Marvan Atapattu, whose brief is to concentrate on rotating the strike and not risk getting out attempting big hits, stuck around for a run-a-ball 29 with three boundaries.

Unfortunately, Sri Lanka’s former skipper was run out following a 47-run stand with Abhinav Bali.

Just 11 deliveries later, Bali (31, 28b, 1x6, 2x4) departed after failing to read a slower one from medium-pacer L. Abilish. From 88 for six in 14.2 overs, it was only a matter of time before the resistance ended.

Good start

Earlier, Lions expectedly came out roaring.

The experimental opening pair of Matthew Elliott (35, 1x6, 2x4) and Lou Vincent (20, 1x6, 3x4) raised 44 runs.

Once Vincent departed in the sixth over, Elliott added another 44 runs with Man-of-the-Match Tejinder Pal Singh, who rotated the strike well and in between, hit a six and two boundaries in his 37-ball 39.

Cameo

T.P. Singh lost Elliott’s company, Dinesh Mongia (four) and Manish Sharma (three) in the space of 15 runs, but went on to add another 30 runs with Chetan Sharma (21), whose cameo helped the team reach the 150-run mark.

Chetan hoisted two sixes — one each of Ali Murtaza and Dale Benkenstein off successive overs — besides a boundary during his nine-ball stay.

The scores:

Chandigarh Lions 153 for six in 20 overs (Tejinder Pal Singh 39, Matthew Elliott 35, Chetan Sharma 21, Lou Vincent 20, Dale Benkenstein two for 43) bt Delhi Giants 119 in 18.1 overs (Abhinav Bali 31, Marvan Atapattu 29, Daryl Tuffey three for 15, Tejinder Pal Singh two for eight).

Sunday’s matches:

Ahmedabad Rockets vs. Delhi Giants and Chandigarh Lions vs. Lahore Badshahs.

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